Amy Newmark - 101 Stories About Self-Care and Balance: Making Me Time

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Making Me Time

101 Stories About Self-Care and Balance

Amy Newmark

Published by Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC www.chickensoup.com

Copyright 2021 by Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher.

CSS, Chicken Soup for the Soul, and its Logo and Marks are trademarks of Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC.

The publisher gratefully acknowledges the many publishers and individuals who granted Chicken Soup for the Soul permission to reprint the cited material.

Front cover photo of coffee mug courtesy of iStockphoto.com/baibaz (baibaz)

Back cover and interior photo of woman courtesy of iStockphoto.com/Viktor_Gladkov (Viktor_Gladkov)

Photo of Amy Newmark courtesy of Susan Morrow at SwickPix

Cover and Interior by Daniel Zaccari

Distributed to the booktrade by Simon & Schuster. SAN: 200-2442

Publishers Cataloging-In-Publication Data

(Prepared by The Donohue Group, Inc.)

Names: Newmark, Amy, compiler.

Title: Chicken soup for the soul : making me time : 101 stories about self-care and balance / [compiled by] Amy Newmark.

Other Titles: Making me time : 101 stories about self-care and balance | Making me time

Description: [Cos Cob, Connecticut] : Chicken Soup for the Soul, LLC, [2021]

Identifiers: ISBN 9781611590746 | ISBN 9781611593143 (ebook)

Subjects: LCSH: Time management--Literary collections. | Time management--Anecdotes. | Self--Literary collections. | Self--Anecdotes. | Self-care, Health--Literary collections. | Self-care, Health--Anecdotes. | LCGFT: Anecdotes.

Classification: LCC BF637.T5 C45 2021 (print) | LCC BF637.T5 (ebook) | DDC 640/.43--dc23

Library of Congress Control Number: 2020947977

Changing the world one story at a time

www.chickensoup.com

Introduction

I f theres anything weve learned during this pandemic, its that life is unpredictable and nothing is guaranteed. Youve got to live it with joy while you can. And youve got to spend as much time as possible with your favorite people while you can, devoting those hours to the people who mean the most to you and add the most value to your life.

This new collection of stories focuses on how you can live your life most joyfully, by deliberately creating time for yourself me time, time with your most important loved ones (we time) and by taking care of yourself. Self-care, work/life balance, pursuing your passions, decluttering your home and your calendar, and treating yourself as well as you would treat a guest are all covered in these pages. Theyre all things you know you want to do; were going to help motivate you by showing you how other people did it and the consequences of not doing so!

One of the themes that youll see in these pages is the importance of getting outside in nature. I know thats what Ive been hearing about the most from my friends and family and neighbors. Everyones been saying things like Wasnt that the most beautiful spring you ever saw? or Werent there more birds singing this year? or Were there more flowers on the trees this year?

Maybe the spring of 2020 was unusual, or maybe we were just noticing it because we were finally forced to be less busy. I know that the shutdown gave me time to really look at the trees on my property, and the bird nest outside my front door where I monitored a robin couple as they raised two sets of babies. I even got to watch the babies fly for the first time. Yes, I was there for that very event! And I got to watch the family of tiny birds on my rear patio, too, seeing the first flight of every single baby from that nest one summer Sunday.

Then, in the fall, I was transfixed by the activity in a large hickory tree at the beginning of our driveway. One day I stood under the tree and little green bits of hickory nut shells floated down around me as if it were raining. I could actually hear dozens of squirrels gnawing the shells off the nuts up in the tree. It was truly fascinating. That was something I wouldnt have experienced if I hadnt been stuck at home instead of going to the office and returning home after dark.

Getting outside means freely moving our bodies, gaining the perspective of being a tiny life inside a much larger world, and breathing the same air as the ancient trees that have seen it all and will still be standing when were gone. Its the most powerful tool I know to reset your heart and soul. Youll read a lot about the transformative effect of walking out your front door no matter the season of the year or the season of your life.

This pandemic is going to leave a legacy, not just of loss and economic problems, but of renewed focus on what matters. We hope youll take some me time to enjoy the stories in this new collection and to implement some good habits of your own as you move forward in life.

Amy Newmark

November 16, 2020

Mind, Body and Spirit

My Name

Caring for your body, mind, and spirit is your greatest and grandest responsibility. Its about listening to the needs of your soul and then honoring them.

~Kristi Ling

N o one had called me Melissa in months. Hearing my name was something I took for granted before the COVID-19 pandemic. But now I wasnt spending time with the people who know me as Melissa: my co-workers, fellow writers, and friends.

I had been at home with my two children for months. Evan, age nine, and Delaney, six, call me Mom or Mama. I really dont have a preference between the two as long as they arent whining when they say it. And I realize that I am fortunate to have wonderful little people in my life who call me Mama even at 2:00 a.m. when one of them is sick.

Something happened when I stopped hearing my name, though. It became a whole other type of isolation, separate from the pandemic itself. Before I became Mrs. Face or Mama, I was Melissa. My name is of Greek origin and means honeybee according to a cross-stitch that used to hang on the wall above my mothers dresser.

My parents named me after Melissa Manchester. We loved the name, and there were no other Melissas around at that time, my mom said. Then I began kindergarten, and there were three Melissas all seated in the front row of Mrs. Whitleys class. From that moment until the start of middle school, I was Melissa S. Thats what I wrote on my graded work, what my teacher called during attendance, and what was written on the chalkboard often with a checkmark beside it for talking too much in class.